Two Owls Designtag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-18412872012-01-02T18:12:14+00:00Soft toy patterns and designs along with general stitch-craft.TypePadChristmas Run-Up: The Gingerbread Housetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011279716f8228a401675fdb8b9b970b2012-01-02T18:12:14+00:002012-01-02T18:12:14+00:00December is always a busy month but this year was the first time we'd experienced all of the school activities in the mix too. Fitting in the present making and buying, wrapping and delivering alongside the school events, family events,...Two Owls

December is always a busy month but this year was the first time we'd experienced all of the school activities in the mix too. Fitting in the present making and buying, wrapping and delivering alongside the school events, family events, my stock making and trying to get it all completed before the early school break-up wasn't easy. There were a few Christmas casualties, no cake this year and not everyone got a card from us (sorry). Many of those that did receive a Christmas card were wished 'all the best for 2011' initially which was corrected, not entirely unnoticeably, to 2012 upon realisation (20+ cards in, urgh).

The week before Christmas did end up reasonably clear to concentrate on activities for the boys though. We made a gingerbread house over a couple of the days, finally using the cutters I bought years ago, long before Aidan was born. We followed this Simple Gingerbread House recipe which was great - the accompanying photo to the recipe looks far from simple though. The tip in the recipe to roll out the dough directly onto the baking paper on which it will later be baked, enabling the cut out pieces to be transfered to a baking sheet by lifting the paper, is a really good one. Ours did not look like the photo (well, we had different cutters). Ours looked like this and was good, messy fun to make. It may well become an annual activity, or biannual as Aidan wants to make one for his birthday too.

The gingerbread recipe worked perfectly well for us with Doves Farm gluten-free plain flour.

NB Nestle Smarties are NOT gluten free.

By Request: Peanut and Raisin Cookiestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011279716f8228a4015432cf1317970c2011-06-06T12:01:54+01:002011-06-06T12:06:16+01:00This blog post is at the request of my niece, Sophie. It's a really good recipe that I have scrawled in a scrapbook but it's originally from a Good Housekeeping recipe book (should anyone want to know which book exactly...Two Owls

This blog post is at the request of my niece, Sophie. It's a really good recipe that I have scrawled in a scrapbook but it's originally from a Good Housekeeping recipe book (should anyone want to know which book exactly I can find out as it's on my Mum's kitchen shelf). Soph and I used to make them together when she was little. She's now in the middle of her GCSE's but a good biscuit stands the test of time.

Ingredients

150g (5oz) plain flour

125g (4oz) butter

150g (5oz) sugar

125g (4oz) crunchy peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

175g (6oz) raisins

pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 190oC, gas mark 5.Put all of the ingredients except for the raisins, into a large mixing bowl and mix together with an electric mixer until well combined.

Stir in the raisins with a spoon

To form cookies, scoop a tsp full of the mixture and roll it into a ball, flatten it slightly and then place onto a greased baking tray (do not place too close together as some spreading will occur).

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

This recipe can be made equally well using Dove's Farm gluten-free plain flour and gluten-free baking powder, making it suitable for coeliacs.

And because no post is complete without a picture or two, here is a photo Aidan took last week on our visit with friends to Stockley Farm. The piglets have a heat lamp in with them hence the pink glow.

Aidan would've been happy with a visit to an arable farm as he was only really interested in the tractors and diggers, he found bottle-feeding the lambs an unnecessarily scary activity. So when he asked could he stroke a goat (that was restrained behind bars) I took a picture as proof.

Pecan Chocolate Browniestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a011279716f8228a401538e917d76970b2011-05-24T09:47:00+01:002011-05-24T01:06:47+01:00It takes a lot of energy to care for a new baby and by energy I really mean chocolate. A noble mission to find the best brownie recipe was undertaken a week or two back and several have been road-tested...Two Owls

It takes a lot of energy to care for a new baby and by energy I really mean chocolate. A noble mission to find the best brownie recipe was undertaken a week or two back and several have been road-tested since. Success always hangs on thorough research.

Taking Nigella's basic brownie recipe from How To Be A Domestic Goddess and fusing it with the best bit (in my opinion) of Jamie's 30 Minute Meal brownies, resulted in our favourite recipe so far - crisp and crunchy on the top, dense and fudgy below:

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter, cubed

175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

250g caster sugar

125g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

100g pecans

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC, gas mark 4. Line a baking tin measuring approximately 20cm x 28cm with greaseproof paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a pan over a low heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together for 1-2 minutes with an electric whisk until the mixture thickens becoming paler and foamy.

Pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg and sugar mixture and beat together until combined.

Fold in the flour and salt.

Pour into the prepared tin and spread out evenly. Scatter over the pecans then press them down slightly into the chocolate mixture.

Place on the centre shelf of the oven and bake for 25-40 minutes (it takes 40 minutes in our oven but our oven is dreadful, 30 minutes is probably about right but I couldn't say for sure). The brownies are ready to come out of the oven when the top is risen and cracked and there's a hint of a wobble underneath, the top will sink back as they cool.So that the brownies are suitable for coeliacs I make them with Doves Farm gluten-free plain flour.